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My AccountThe thought that a producer or director may come across your work and want to make a film out of it, is something I’m sure crosses the mind of every author at some point or another. Whether they would act on that opportunity or not is an entirely different matter. This is a decision that local author Jonathan Raymond has faced, twice. In fact the second story (Wendy and Lucy) was written with the encouragement of the director of both films, Kelly Reichardt. Inspired by post-Katrina and the shock felt as Raymond and Reichardt watched, along with the rest of us, the underbelly of American society reflected on the screen, Wendy and Lucy tells the story of a down on her luck 20 something road tripping through Oregon when a few setbacks lead to unexpected outcomes. Old Joy, the first Reichardt/Raymond project, was also set and filmed in Oregon and follows a pair of old friends who reunite for a camping trip to the Cascades.
Raymond’s novel Half-Life is what led to the relationship with Reichardt and eventually the two films. Reichardt says of Half-Life, “I got back into feature film-making having read his novel and really identifying with his writing and wanting to make a film out of the way he was dealing with relationships and the way people fit into their environment, the way he was able to through the personal get to the political.” Livability, Raymond’s newest release, is a collection of nine short stories including Old Joy, The Sucking Pig (a dinner party where the host invites the hired help), and Young Bodies (A Russian migr looks to return stolen money).
Raymond grew up in Lake Grove, graduated from Lake Oswego High, and attended Swarthmore College and The New School where he studied creative writing. He settled back in Portland in 2006 after a five year stint in New York, and in addition to writing works as an editor for local media design firm Plazm. Raymond says of our little Stumptown, “I love Portland – I’m a total jingoistic booster of it.”
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